NEWS

Curtis Hodgins (photo credit - Dave Powers/OJHL Images) has accepted the Head Coach position with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Ridgebacks of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and has stepped down as head coach of the Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL), with the support of team management.

During his tenure of 16 seasons as a head coach in the OJHL, including his fourth regular season as head coach of the Cobourg Cougars (also Whitby Fury & Bowmanville Eagles), Curtis has won four OJHL East Division Championships and was named East Division Coach-of-the-Year four times as well (1998, 2004, 2007, 2010). Curtis was Head Coach of Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge in 2011 that won a silver medal in Langley, B.C., and has coached numerous OJHL All-Star Teams along the way.  Since joining the Cougars in the 2012-2013 season, Curtis has amassed an over-all winning percentage in excess of .700.

“It has been an absolute privilege to coach the club for the past three-and-a-half years,” Hodgins said. “The organization is top drawer from top to bottom and I have nothing but great things to say about the club and the community.”

“The entire Cobourg Cougars organization is extremely grateful to Curtis for all he has done for our program and we are confident that he will help lead the Ridgebacks’ hockey program to even higher levels of success,” stated Brent Tully, Cougars’ General Manager. “Curtis brings a
wealth of knowledge and skill in developing young hockey players and a coaching style with a proven record of success.”

While Curtis is leaving the Cougars to take on his new and exciting challenge at UOIT, the club is well-positioned in all aspects of its operations and continues to be among the best Junior 'A' operations in Canada. Todd Hooey and Corey Beer, as well as the rest of the club's staff, will continue to play key roles with the club, which expects to immediately commence a robust search for Curtis' replacement as it moves forward with its plans in hosting the RBC Cup in May of 2017.

Both Todd and Corey have been assistant coaches with the club and on the bench with Curtis. Todd is a seasoned Hockey Canada Advanced certified coach with 16 years of coaching experience. His achievements include being head coach of the 2013 OHL Gold Cup U16 Champions and assistant coach with Curtis in 2006 when they were OJHL East Division Champions. Corey coached in Oshawa Minor Hockey for six years, was head scout of the Whitby Fury of the OJHL in 2008-09 and joined Curtis and the Fury as an assistant coach in 2011-2012, a club that runner-up in the OJHL Championship Series to the Stouffville Spirit. Corey has been an assistant coach in Cobourg since the 2012-2013 season and during his tenure with the club it has been to the playoffs every season. Together, Todd and Corey will run the club’s bench until a more formalized coaching structure may be implemented.

“Each of Todd and Corey is a proven developer of junior hockey talent and we are extremely grateful to them for stepping-up and agreeing to continue coaching while the club takes steps to finalize the replacement of Curtis,” Tully went on to say. “They are extremely loyal to our
club and our players and we hope Todd and Corey play key roles with the club moving forward,” said Cougars Governor, Marc Mercier.

“Curtis has made an indelible mark on our club by helping to lead it to higher levels of achievement. Simply put, we are better today for all that Curtis has done. Curtis is a proven developer of hockey talent and we know and have the utmost confidence that he will do a great job for UOIT in its quest to become a leader in CIS hockey and we wish him and UOIT all the best,” Tully closed with.

For Mercier, he sees the expanded roles of Tully, Hooey and Beer as another opportunity with purpose. “We will continue as an organization to recruit top level talent from across the province in order to see this organization continue to grow into a leader amongst its Canadian peers. We want to win at the end of the day; however, we take equal pride in developing young players that are interested in progressing on to higher levels of hockey, with an emphasis on education, and preparing these young men also for what comes after hockey is finished as well.”

In its 50th anniversary year of operations, the Cobourg Cougars have been a strong, community based and well-supported junior hockey organization. During this past regular season, the Cougars enjoyed once again being among the top clubs in terms of on-ice winning and at the top of the OJHL in terms of attendance.

For more information on the Cougars, including the selection of the organization by Hockey Canada to co-host the World Junior A Challenge (with the Whitby Fury) in December of 2015 and to host the prestigious RBC Cup in May of 2017, please visit www.cobourgcougars.com.